DAY 27 BIG RED BASH

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Birdsville Big Red Bash, day 1, done and duuussstteedd.

The 35km drive out to Big Red surprised us as 27km was on bitumen and the remaining kms on beautiful gravel. The single track at the base of Big Red was a few centimetres of soft sand atop a hard base. Smooth driving. Parked in the day trippers designated area and went seeking our friends, Kerry and Dave. We were blown away with the sight of the setup, never having seen so many caravans and campers in one place and organised in a semi-circle fashion with the stage the centre point. Imagine a wagon wheel cut across the diameter. Now imagine throwing a stone into a lake and the ripples radiating out from the centre. The ripples were roads named as: Kelly Crescent, Barnes Boulevard, Burke and Wills Way, Yarluyandi Road, etc. There were 9. The spokes of the wheel, just as in Paris, were pathways with such names as Diamantina Way, Adria Pathway, etc. There were 7. Numerous food vans catering from the simplistic bucket of chips to international culinary delights from Brazil just to name one, were side by side just back from the audience seated area.

After organising with Kerry and Dave we set off to climb Big Red. The view from the ridge of the red dune blew us away. We stood in bewilderment and stared at the enormity of what lay before us. 11 000 people with a billion dollars’ worth of homes on wheels and vehicles. Behind us a road disappeared into the distance as it headed further into the Simpson Desert.

We walked along the ridge, and in our excitement took far too many snaps. We ceased and enjoyed the view and happy atmosphere of the people around us. Dune surfing on boogie boards, bin lids, cardboard or whatever continued all day. Below us camel rides were being enjoyed by youngsters while above us the helicopter sight seeing over Big Red continued all day. $170 for 10 minutes! Fortunately, the music drowned out the sound of the choppers.

Back down at ground level the 4 of us settled down to a very informative and respectful Welcome to Country and the singing of the National Anthem before the entertainment began. At certain times it was more entertaining watching people than listening to the music! Bachelor Girl began proceedings, followed by Jack Jones, Mi-Sex, Dragon, the Bash Band (made up of some of Australia’s top musicians) who naturally were phenomenal and Cate Ceberano. Even though performers Tex Perkins, Tim Rogers and Jon Stevens were to follow we left as we had been there for 8 hours. Tomorrow we will stay until the conclusion of the days entertainment as the performers are more to our liking. Today, we soaked up the atmosphere and loved it, pinching ourselves that, ‘here we are sitting in the Simpson Desert’ with 10 998 other people listening to music.

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